A spot to highlight my Triton sailboat, her sailing adventures and restoration challenges. For those of you smart enough to run from a total 'gut-job' restoration but like to follow the miseries of those less wise, I hope I can provide you with some entertainment.

Monday, June 13, 2011

Saturday was a total bust; poured buckets all day long. Everytime I thought it might be lightening up a bit, the downpours came right back like they were reading my mind. I spend the day sorting through my racks of old boat stuff trying to figure out what needs to go back on Jenny and what needs to go to the dump.

Sunday was a rainy day too but a lighter, drier rain and time is running short so I was out at the boatyard prepping for a launch this Thursday.

It was too wet for the camera and there wasn't much to show anyway. I did take a photo of my new Garhauer genoa sheet cars.

...

These are the ones that came with the boat. I think I see some improvement.

The rope loops was for hooking the bungie cord to. The other end of the bungie was connected to the lifelines which kept the snatch block upright and off the deck ... yech.

And I found my old mainsheet blocking. I am pretty happy with the Harken gear I have already replaced it with.

I still have a bunch of old phenolic blocks and stuff if anyone wants them for that 'retro' look. The stuff looks ancient. It might function but it won't be functioning on Jenny. Next year's number one project priority is to finish up all the little bits and pieces that make up the sail control systems. What I inherited was a cobbled together mess. Some of the big stuff has been sorted but what remains is too horrible to live beyond one more season.

So with everying a cobbling mess, I spent a good part of Sunday doing a 'dry run' of the rigging, making sure I had all the little bits and pieces that make the sails fly. I physically hooked all the sails up and ran the controls to make sure I wasn't going to be surprised at the launch. I am sure I will find a surprise or too but I am doing what I can...

In case the sails don't go I have a good running motor too. Just to make sure I ran it for half an hour. Everything seemed happy so that's encouraging. Oil pressure seems lower than I remember but its in the acceptable range; which for the Atomic Four is a pretty wide range.

After satisfying my fear of forgetting some critical piece I continued with the transformation of workshop to sailboat and hauled more stuff home and cleaned up. The closer I look the more sanding dirt I find. Its going to be a long time before Jenny is truly 'clean'. I had fleeting hopes of completing another project or two but the weather seems to have put the kabosh on that idea. I have the materials but I don't have the time. Oh well, there is always next year...

There are a million little things to do that aren't worth mentioning. I can only hope that someday launching won't be this big a production. I wonder how far away that 'someday' really is